ENGL661 Wikia
A word of Welcome This is the course wiki for ENGL 661 Literary Criticism and Interpretation at CSU, Chico in FA16. This wiki constitutes a major component of our work as we trace several theoretical currents that shape the understanding of literature, culture, and self. Specifically, we will focus on the foundational issues of meaning and pleasure. Rather than approach the variety of texts we'll be encountering as passive spectators, this wiki is a chance for us as a community to actively enjoy and make meaning together. A word about this Wiki thing This Wiki is something more than a supplement to our time "in class." It extends our work together into a digital space, allowing for asynchronous collaboration. As much as it is a collaborative space, it is also a laboratory space in which we try on and work through ideas that emerge from our course readings and through our discussions. Finally, because this is a wiki - a kind of public space - our working-through together takes place openly. Collaboration, experimentation, and openness thus constitute three core values of our work this semester.For a fuller explication of these values in the context of the Digital Humanities, see Lisa Spiro, "'This is Why We Fight': Defining the Values of the Digital Humanities." Debates in the Digital Humanities, 2012 edition. http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/13 A word about approaching theoretical texts I am excited about this course, and I hope that you will find it compelling and exciting as well. The texts we will be reading are challenging (to say the least), and require careful and repeated engagement. Here are some habits and attitudes that will serve you well this semester. * Though I state this elsewhere, it bears repeating: read each text several times, being sure to carefully and thoughtfully annotate while you read. * Also, be okay with uncertainty. Uncertainty and its more threatening cousin, confusion can be highly productive states of mind. But for your uncertainty and confusion to be productive, you have to note them and voice them. * Play the “believing game” and avoid rushing to judgment – both in reading and in your writing. Avoid outright dismissing a seemingly “wrong” idea. In the words of Peter Elbow, “try to be as welcoming or accepting as possible to every idea we encounter: not just listening to views different from your own and holding back from arguing with them; not just trying to restate them without bias; but actually trying to believe them . . . Use believing as a tool to scrutinize and test.”Peter Elbow, "The Believing Game--Methodological Believing," 2008. https://works.bepress.com/peter_elbow/20/download/https://works.bepress.com/peter_elbow/20/download/ * Conversely, don’t be afraid to challenge the ideas, thinkers, and movements we encounter. Play the “doubting game” with them once you’ve tried them on and worked to understand them. * Finally, enjoy yourself. This course is invested in interrogating our usual divisions between and characterizations of the “serious” matters of meaning and the “frivolous” matters of pleasure. Difficult things can be pleasurable, and enjoyable things can be downright serious. Latest activity Category:Browse